The Apt.’s Are Coming

Check out Carl’s article, “Area Apartment Construction Booming,” Originally Published in the Los Feliz Ledger.

SILVER LAKE—With several developments planned from Barnsdall Park to Echo Park, neighborhoods east of Hollywood will soon see a flood of new apartment construction as some area landmarks face demolition to make room for multi-family housing.

The abandoned so-called “Bates Motel” on Sunset Boulevard is likely nearing its end as developers Frost/Chaddock plan to demolish the building at 4311 Sunset Blvd. as early as fall 2018 after years of sitting on the property amid push back from the community.

Also known as the Sunset Pacific Motel, this is not the first time the building at Sunset Boulevard and Bates Avenue has faced the wrecking ball.

Slated for demolition in 2009 before being purchased by Frost/Chaddock, the motel eked out several more years and was later turned into a public art project when French artist Vincent Lamouroux painted the motel and surrounding landscape solid white in 2015.

Since then the white wash has faded, and the Bates Motel has fallen back into disrepair and is often covered in graffiti, leaving many locals eager to see the motel replaced by something safer and more aesthetically pleasing, said Scott Plante, co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council’s urban design and preservation committee.

“The community views the demolition positively because the Bates Motel has been a huge problem for a long time,” Plante said. “Everybody wants something to happen there, but of course you have people who are concerned about development and the traffic that it brings.” Read More »